Railway construction.



W. H. WOOD.

RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-13.1917.

Patented J une 4, 1918.

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WILLIAM H. WOOD, OF MEDIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 4, 1918.

Application filed September 13, 1917. Serial No. 191,119.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. WOOD, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Media, county of Delaware, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in Railway Construction, of which the following is a specification.

Heretofore steam railways have been constructed with rails having the head and wide base flanges connected by a single vertical web and the rails so formed united by two fish plates placed upon opposite sides of the web and bolted thereto, the abutting rail ends sometimes resting upon a bridge plate placed under the rails and supported upon adjacent cross ties. Constructions of this kind have been found defective in many respects, but more particularly in that the rail sections are not of balanced construction as to stress; and being directly secured to the ties, are liable to premature crystallization and breakage, especially in cold weather when contraction will be at a maximum. Furthermore, the employment of two fish plates arranged upon the outside of the rail difficult to make and retain rigid union between abutting'rail ends.

The object of my invention is to provide a construction of rail section which will be of a balanced form and to so support it on the cross ties that the vibrations induced in the rail in use will be materially relieved, thereby reducing tendency to crystallization to minimum and with a consequent increase in the available life of the rail.

A further object of my invention is to provide a double web rail, in which the union or joint between abutting rail ends is made by a combined bridge and fish plate, the vertical webthereof fitting up into and almost filling the groove between the webs and the base flanges of the webs seating upon the fish plate base in such manner as to be supported vertically and held against lateral spreading. By this construction a strong and durable railway structure is provided and a simple and effective finish se cured.

My object is also to provide the double webbed rail with tie plates at each cross tie, which receive the base flanges and space the webs by a shallow rib extending upward between them, the said tie plates and rail flanges being spiked to the ties, whereby not only are the webs held against spreading, but the base flanges are supported clear of the ties and being separate and forming terminal portions of the webs, they are free to vibrate and release the stresses-created in the rail in use, with the result of lessened crystallization and danger of breakage.

With the above and other objects in view, the nature of which will be more fully understood from the description hereinafter, the invention consists in the novel construction of railway system as hereinafter more fully described and defined in the claims.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation ofa railway track showing my improved railway construction; Fig. 2 is a plan view of one rail line and adjacent portions of the ties; Fig. 3 is a cross section through the rail and fish plate on a large scale, taken on line 33 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a similar cross section through the rail and tie plate, taken on line 44 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the fish plate; and Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the tie plate.

2, 2, are the rails and are of arch form in cross section, comprising the head 3 of usual shape and general vertical depth, twovertical webs 4, 4, spaced apart to provide a deep groove 6 between them, and flanged foot portions 5, 5, extending laterally from the bottom of each of the webs. In this construction the webs respectively extend downward from each side of the head and therefore are positioned to directly receive the poundingof the wheels which bear more heavily on one side of the head than the,

other. This removes the bending strains, which so objectionably come upon the web of the ordinary T-rail now in use. ,These same benefits are secured irrespective of which side is arranged as the inside of the track in completed condition. The Webs 4,

4, being spaced apart and positioned under the head so that no downward thrust can come upon the head to the outside of'said webs, it follows that both webs are subjected to compressive strains to the entire elimination of torsional or bending strains, and hence there is less tendency to crystallization and breakage. spaced as shown, there is far greater stability of the head against spreading than in By the use oftwo webs,

and tie plates is of a character that they may be rolled in long lengths and sawed into the definite short lengths required, and hence may be cheaply made. The notches and holes may be punched out, as is customary in metal working;

It will be seen that when the spikes are received in the notches 20 of the tie plates, the entire overhang of the spike heads 23 may extend over the foot flanges of the rail and thus more securely hold the rail in position. The notches 20 on opposite sides of the tie plates are in staggered relation, so that the spikes may enter the cross tie out of grain alinement and thereby have less tendency to split the tie or loosen therein.

I have shown the central under portion of both the base 7 of the fish plate and base 17 of the tie plate respectively with longitudinal V ribs 16 and 21, which may embed into the surface of the cross ties to position them, more especially when spiking the rails and plates in position but also as a means of assisting the spikes in holding the rails against displacement in use. The base portions 17 of the tie plates are in length preferably equal to the available width of the cross tie; and in width they exceed the width of the rail at its base and hence provide a greater surface area resting upon the wood of the cross tie and thereby insure greater resistance to wear than where the rail rests directly upon the cross tie. This is especially important in a double web rail of the character herein described.

As a further evidence of strength against spreading, it is pointed out that, not only is the one web with its foot flange held against spreading by the rib 19 of the base and the spike, but the other web is held against shifting in the same direction by the central web 18 of the tie plate and its foot flange from rising by the spike head.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that my invention resides, not only in the rail per se, but also in its association with the special fish plates and tie plates which reinforce or strengthen the rail when placed in position for use, the whole forming a rail structure of complete form.

Attention is also directed to the fact that the rail shape here set out permits of its ready union with rails of T-cross section by use of fish plates which may be boltedto the outside of the webs; and hence enables the improved rail to be substituted in place of the usual T-rail during normal use of the road bed.

It will now be apparent that I have devised a novel and useful construction which embodies the features of advantage enumerated as desirable, and while I have in the present instance shown and described the preferred embodiment without departing from the spirit or scope v of the invention.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent, isz- 1. In a railway rail structure, the combination of abutting rails, each comprising a head and two downwardly extending webs therefrom said webs flanged outwardly at the bottom and providing a groove open at the bottom and extending upwardly between the webs to the head, with a fish plate structure comprising a bridging base plate having a longitudinal upwardly extending web in its middle fitting into the grooved portions of the abutting rails and the base plate on each side of its web grooved to receive the flanged portions of the rail, bolts extending through the webs of the abutting rails and the web of the fish plate structure, cross ties upon part of which the bridging base plate rests, spikes driven into the cross ties and having their heads overlapping the bridging base plate and rail flanges for holding them to the ties, a plurality of tie plates under the rails and resting upon the remaining cross ties and each having a web fitting into the groove in the rail and flanges for retaining the rail flanges against spreading, and spikes driven into the cross ties and fitting to the tie plates and also having their heads extendings over the rail flanges to hold them and the tie plates in position upon the cross ties.

2. In a railway, the combination of two rolled girder rails abutting end to end and having a uniform cross section, said section of inverted U-shape, providing a head and two flanged web portions extending down from the head, the webs spaced apart to provide a longitudinal groove and the flanged portions of the webs extending laterally to provide base flanges for the rail, combined with a plurality of cross ties, a long fish plate structure adjustably secured upon adjacent cross ties and comprising a bridging base plate having a longitudinal upwardly extending web from its middle fittin into the grooved portions of the abuttlng rails approximately to the top thereof, and the base plate receiving the flanged portions of the webs of the rails, bolts extending through the web portions of the rails and the web of the fish plate structure, a plurality of short tie plates each arranged under the rails and upon the cross ties, said plates comprising a base having a central high web of a shape to fit into the lower portion of the groove of the rails so as to extend approximately half way up and also having side shallow. flanges be- In testimony of which invention I heretween which and the central Web the base unto set my hand.

flanges of the rail Webs fit, and spikes for holding the rail and tie plates securely to over the tie plates and base flanges of the E. W. SMITH, I KATHRYN A. SUMMERs..

rails.

(iopies gt this patentmay b e obtained for five cents each, by addressing the .Gomm

. v Washington, D. C. I

v -WILLIAM'H. WOOD; thecross ties and with the heads extending Witnesses; it

issioner of Patents, l 

